Observations Of A Seaman
by VisualIDentificationZeta
Summary: HarmMeg SUMMARY: an evolution of Harmon Rabb, Jr. as seen through the eyes of a member of the junior staff. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Observations Of A Seaman

AUTHOR: Vid Z.

PAIRING: Harm/Meg

TIMELINE: end of Season 5

SPOILERS: everything except for the Diane eps.

!!!WARNINGS!!!: this fic is written in a first person POV of someone who is emotionally and physically involved into the life of JAG HQ and of Harmon Rabb, someone who respects and likes him a great deal, someone who is actually a part of the support staff. That person also liked Meg very much and had never made peace with her transfer, thus they have automatically been against the woman, who had tried to replace Meg, namely Mac. Because Meg left, only Harm remained, which is why the narrator is also very protective of Harm and dislikes anyone who hurts Harm.

Long story short: this fic includes Mac and Bugme BASHING for the things that happened in season 5! Mainly Bugme bashing, though as I can't imagine anyone liking the guy, least of all the support staff, who are all on Harm's side.

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show JAG are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I had a sudden idea a while ago for a fic that was in a POV of someone who was actually a part of the JAG staff, completely unnoticed, yet he notices everything that goes on. This person is not only Harm's fan, but also Meg's fan. I, the author, had personally fallen in love with Meg, the character, quite quickly, as have many other fans (yes, I knew she wasn't a real person). She was someone extremely positive, had something that just drew a person to her, she was extremely good to and for Harm, more than Mac ever was, IMHO. She made Harm smile and laugh constantly, while Mac evoked only grimaces of emotional pain in the last few seasons (I don't remember the last time prior to FWAFS that we've seen Harm laugh or really smile around Mac), which was just a big plus in her favor. JAG was never the same after DPB made the bonehead move and fired her. The only person who could compare to Meg in all the next 9 years of the show, in terms of being good to and for Harm, in personality, friendliness, warmth, caring and as a person in general, was Jen. Unfortunately she was limited by the regs and by the strong H&M fanbase of the show, which prevented anything happening between her and Harm. Season 1 was a magical time for me, a time when I actually fully enjoyed watching JAG and didn't dread switching to it, dreading to see another way of how Mac would hurt Harm again. It was only Harm and Meg back then, with a love that was obvious (that only die-hard H&M fans can fool themselves into believing was not there and into believing that Harm viewed her only as a younger sister. Damn, if every man looked at his yonger sister like Harm looked at Meg, then every single guy in the world would've been in prison. Not to mention their heavy, steamy flirting..), yet this love was killed by the hunger for money, the eternal enemy of this world.

DEDICATION: In memoria amoris.

SUMMARY: an evolution of Harmon Rabb, Jr. as seen through the eyes of a member of the junior staff.

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Well, well, well, what do you know... We've hit the magical number 40!

That's right folks, I have 40 fics posted on this site, when, 3 years ago I never would've even believed I would be writing. Funny how things change...

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I think I should introduce myself first.

I'm Seaman John Atkins and I've been stationed at JAG HQ for the last 5 years.

I have one of those utterly boring and badly-paying jobs in the military, I do the menial things that others are above of doing. There are millions like me all over the world, keeping the military functioning. And we are the reason why the military even functions, because without us everything would stop.

Yet, no-one ever notices us, while we notice and know everything.

I make copies of documents when someone needs them, I empty the trash baskets and take out the trash, I get new office implements to the new users when they run out of old ones, I clean the floor and offices.

Why, you ask, would I have the job of cleaning? Doesn't the Navy have cleaning ladies?

The answer is 'no'. Why would they employ someone especially for that when they have all those low-ranking Seamen and Privates to do it for them without any additional pay and with our standard pay being so minimal.

I was a LT once, but got stripped of rank during one of the Navy's scandals when the Navy (or just some circles inside it) needed a scape goat. The truth is, I never even had anything remotely to do with that scandal, but was a convenient tool in order to rescue the sevice. I wonder how many people have been sacrificed in the good of the service like I was?

Anyway, the point of this tale is not to listen to me whining, but something completely else. Or should I say someone.

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I was transferred here soon after my demotion.

My transfer in went by completely without the notice which I received when I was still an LT and got transferred to a new posting.

Back then I usually received a visit from the base's 2IC, welcoming me and informing me of my duties.

The only visit along that line that I received was by an over-worked Petty Officer who briskly informed me of my duties and gave me a list. That was it.

It was soon after that that I took notice of the office's hot-shot.

Every office has one, but only a few deserve to be noticed in a good way.

One of the better ones was a young LT, named Harmon Rabb.

He was a lawyer, a good one.

He was also cocky, but not arrogant. Cocky because he knew he was good, but was also very aware of his own limits. He didn't have a swelled head, thinking he was the king of the world, or that no-one was better than him.

From what I knew of him back then he was also very lucky. My, how little did anyone really know...

The reason why everyone considered him lucky was because he had a gorgeous female partner, who clearly had the hots for him.

A beautiful woman (and it was obvious she knew it), tall, slim, yet muscular, brown eyes and brunette. She looked exactly like Miss Parker from the show Pretender. For a second I wondered if she was moonlighting, but quickly dismissed the idea. The hours the actors put in filming every episode would leave her with no time for her Navy career. Yet, they looked like twins.

LT Kate Pike was her name.

Flirty, temperamental, yet intelligent. From what I could find out she was the "love 'em and leave 'em" type; interested in one-night-stands, but not in serious, committed relationships.

The two LTs flirted. A lot and heavily. Yet nothing ever happened.

She was there only for a few short months before being transferred out after an investigation which uncovered the fact that LT Rabb was an Aviator. A decorated one at that. That was also the first demon we found out about. It seemed we, the staff, were all wrong. The young LT's life wasn't a bed of roses, it was more like a bed of nails.

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	2. Chapter 2

The next partner LT Rabb got was a young LTJG. Her name was Meg Austin.

What a breath of fresh air.

Extremely intelligent, both a computer/weapons expert and a rising star as a lawyer.

She was also one of the most stunningly beautiful women I have ever seen, then and now. Very tall, almost 6 feet, slim, just the right muscle tone, long toned legs, flat belly, slim waist, just the right size of her bust, not too big and not too small - yeah, I checked her out, so what you gonna do about it? -, blonde hair, wide, innocent, blue eyes and pouty, full lips, made for impish smiles. As stunning she was on the outside, it was nothing compared to how beautiful she was on the inside. She was one of the few rare women I know of that, not only are they not aware of their physical beauty, but they never take advantage of it. She was a warm person, friendly, funny, caring, fair and polite.

They say it's the personality that makes a person beautiful and they're right. Even if she were average looking, with her personality she would still be the most beautiful woman in the world. She made the whole office fall in love with her instantly. And we fell for her hard.

She was also a Texas gal, who woulda thunk it?

Sir, can I get a transfer to Texas next time?

Sorry, got off-track there.

She also had the whole innocent, country girl thing down pat. The thing is, she didn't fake it, she was that way. Makes me suspect she was also a virgin.

The interesting thing is, the two partners clicked instantly.

I have never seen two people become such close friends that fast. They were sometimes even obviously reading each other's minds. I have overheard once Austin tell Rabb that he had guessed correctly, that she did wear a red dress. Further listening-in revealed that Rabb and Austin were talking on a phone 2 weeks after her transfer in and Rabb had correctly guessed what kind of a dress and what color she was putting on... That only 2 weeks after they were partnered together!

Can anyone say 'soulmates' and 'spiritual connection'?

It was obvious from their interactions at work that they cared for each other deeply.

It was also obvious that they weren't having an affair.

The air around them kept charging with UST, that wouldn't have been there had they had sex at least once.

The most extraordinary thing happened then.

The shy, naive, innocent young LTJG tamed the wild LT Rabb.

Well, 'tamed' is exaggerating.

She grounded him in some ways, in the ways that he needed grounding, yet in others she let him be the way he was.

Just like a very smart wife would.

Not changing her man to suit her purposes and her vision of how he should be, but just making him more grounded.

There was also a new kind of light in the LT's eyes at work. He was happy. Happy with his life. It was also obvious in his swagger, the new bounce it had adopted.

It was also then that the staff had really started loving the male LT.

He had always been polite and respectful to us, but it was only then that he became friendly and genuinely helpful.

We didn't know whether it was LTJG Austin herself or his friendship with her that had prompted this, but we still liked it.

It also speaks of the force of her personality and of her influence over him.

She had him wrapped around her little finger, he was totally whipped and she didn't even take advantage of it.

Hell, she did most of their paperwork. Okay, true, as the junior officer it was her job, but still..

One day when they came out of the Admiral's office Austin was still blushing dark crimson while Rabb had a very smug, goofy grin stretching his face. Wait a minute, what was that? It was traces of lipstick on his cheek! A quick look at his rank insignia had told me that he had just been promoted and had received his congratulatory kiss from the LTJG. Which was the reason for their reactions.

He went off the deep end one day when she was shot in their office. I know he had never forgiven himself, not even after 4 years, I can see it in his eyes, the guilt lurking deep inside, for going to that lunch and leaving her alone in their office. He didn't sleep nor eat nor rest until he'd found the guy who'd shot her.

Suffice to say, there wasn't much left of that bastard that could've been used to identify him by the time Rabb was done with him. The BMW 7 series that the man had stolen had it's driver's cockpit full of blood and brain matter. Rabb had sent nearly his whole clip through the back window and through the headrest. I saw a picture of the headrest (once it was cleaned off), it was completely shredded apart by bullets. The car was apparently moving uphill, out of an underground garage, when Rabb shot at it.

It was obvious that the man was a superb shot, the reason why he wasn't offered a chance to become a sharpshooter is unknown to me. He had emptied nearly the entire clip at Hemlock, that was the bastard's name, and most of shots were placed close together. From a Beretta FS92 (not the best weapon out there), at a rapidly moving target, a person in a moving car in fact, he was actually aiming at the head of a person who was driving a car at a fast pace uphill and hit his mark spot-on; the car going uphill at great speed; shooting from a standing position, after having ran a near marathon, after a busy and exhausting day...

And the man had placed shots that would make an olympic shooter proud...

Can anyone explain to me in simple terms why he wasn't offered a spot in the sniper training school yet?

Austin came out of her coma apparently the second Rabb had entered her floor in the hospital as if she sensed him.

She had awaken also almost as if she had sensed that the guy was killed and that Rabb had done what he had to do and was coming to her to spend his vigil at her bedside. Everybody at the office knew he would be spending every single second at her bedside as soon as he caught the attacker and until she was okay to go home. We were right.

Everything was going great for the two of them, everybody was making bets about when they would finally see the light and do something to be together. There were even bets as to when they would get married and as to what the genders of their first and second baby would be...

Then it happened.

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	3. Chapter 3

Austin was transferred out suddenly, no-one knew where. Not even the Admiral.

What was known was that she was transferred against her will, against her very vocal protests and even an official complaint against the reassignment. It didn't help her any.

That was the start of the decline of one Harmon Rabb, Jr..

Everyone took it badly, we missed her, but no-one more than Rabb.

The pain in the man's eyes was the same as in a widower's. He had lost the woman he loved, his soulmate. I'm not some sappy, mushy romantic, but I do believe that these two were soulmates.

The office that was once so full with life, was now shrouded in mourning.

The happy, beautiful laugh of a vibrant, wonderful, young woman was gone, leaving behind a crew that was without balance, because one of the main pieces was gone.

Her former partner was visibly dragging himself through each day, dragging himself through life. He had aged years in just few weeks. Gone was the man to whom a smile would come easily, leaving behind only an empty shell that had to force itself to smile.

It may sound weird that a partner would mean that much to a person, but you'd need to see it with your own two eyes to believe it. And you _would _believe.

Eventually he received a new partner.

A Marine...

Can you believe it?

The people who gave the order were either intoxicated or nuts. Or just plain dumb.

They've assigned a Marine to an office staffed only with Navy personnel.

She was good looking, I'll give her that.

Not in Austin's league, but who is?

Our hearts bled for Rabb when we saw him forcing himself to smile in order to make her feel welcome.

His smile was a fake so obvious and transparent that anyone who knew him could have seen right through it immediately.

She couldn't. She didn't know him.

Besides she had demons of her own.

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	4. Chapter 4

It was quite obvious also.

It was obvious that she was some kind of addict, but at the time I didn't know what kind.

She was wound as tightly as a spring, never smiled for real, always moody, brooding.

She was a control freak, had to be in control of everything. I guess that was because of her addiction problem.

It took a lot of effort to be in control of her urges and eventually that need for control spilled over into other areas of her life.

I can only speculate which areas, but it was obvious that she had the need to be in control of every aspect of her life. Even of her relationships and the men she was with.

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The strain of putting up a facade eventually started to take it's toll on Rabb.

The man who had been the embodiement of the healthy way of life started drinking the dark seed.

Coffee.

'Before', as the time of the Austin-era was called now, no one ever saw him with coffee in his hand early in the morning.

He always came in to work in good spirits. He didn't need caffeine to send oxygen through his veins into his brain. She did that for him with merely her presence.

The man had completely changed within months and it was an awfully painful sight to watch.

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Unlike Rabb I had never found my soulmate.

But after seeing what losing her did to him, I'm glad I hadn't found her.

His love for her (and her for him) had always been obvious, but never more so than during those years of 'after'. I don't know how he managed to keep going, let alone function.

Yet, he did. Barely. And while he was a complete mess personally, his career was still going strong. He still scored win after win in court.

Yet, he hadn't really laughed once since 'before'. There were some fake or forced laughs and I have no doubt the Major bought it.

The woman never knew him, never knew what he was about, and she just proved that a few years later when he did what he had to do for his own peace of mind.

Sorry, I'm straying off the topic.

Rabb and Mackenzie did manage to get closer and form a friendship, but it just couldn't compete with what he'd had with Austin.

He knew it.

He didn't even try to make it as strong as that one. He knew he couldn't replace her and what they'd had.

Nothing and no-one could ever replace her.

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	5. Chapter 5

AN: this one has some Mac and Bugme bashing, so if you don't like it stay away. As I've already stated in the main warnings, this is a POV of someone who cares a great deal about Harm and Meg and had been involved in their lives, is a member of the staff and thus emotionally involved in the whole situation. Because he likes Harm he didn't like what had happend during Season 5 and how Mac was towards Harm. This fic wasn't written for the purpose of bashing Mac, but calling her to responsibility for her actions, attitude and behaviour during Season 5 was unavoidable. Mac's actions were not that of a friend, much less a best friend, her behaviour and treatment of Harm was appalling. She failed (or didn't want) to understand why Harm had to do what he did and she resented him from purely selfish reasons, for she cared only how his decision affected her and not how it affected him nor why he had to do it.

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He left for flying 3 years into 'after'.

His new partner, I'll always think of her as 'new', 'his partner' deserved Austin only, didn't understand his decision. She didn't understand him, who he was and what he was about. I wonder if she'd even tried to.

She took it quite badly, but he had to do it, he had to kill one of his demons.

Yet, she resented and hated him for it.

What a hypocricy. Only months before she herself had left JAG to 'spread her wings'. What a load of crock that excuse was.

She had left JAG because of a Porsche, money, fame and a guy. Spread her wings... yeah, right.

Well, the only good thing she did in those months was getting Rabb off on murder charges. And that was all that she did worthy of mentioning. Her actions of later on confirmed my theory about her being an addict. I saw her in a bar and, according to her behaviour, drinking herself into the ground was nothing new to her.

She left JAG and when she came back, tail between her legs after seeing she wasn't capable of surviving in the civilian world, she expected to be welcomed with open arms. And she was. Hell, Rabb even argued with Cheggwidden to take her back. Turns out, the old man had never pushed her resignation through. I wonder if he'd do the same with Rabb's if it ever came to it. I doubt it. He always had the soft spot for beautiful, young women under his command: Austin and now Mackenzie. Have enough evidence to have him convicted for favoritism of her, but you know the saying: there can always be a worse one. The next one could be a control freak, ruling with an iron fist. Or he could be sexually harrassing and intimidating women. A person like these should never have positions of power. Which is why the Allies have never tried to assassinate Hitler. A worse maniac could've taken the power and the situation would've gone from bad to hell.

Mackenzie left and returned with her tail between her legs, yet she wasn't nor willing nor ready to extend the same curtesy to Rabb when he changed his designator.

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While Rabb was out there protecting his country and performing heroic acts, like pushing his wingman by his tailhook over to the friendly territory, the Major was cozying up to his biggest enemy, an Aussie LCDR. An act of betrayal of friendship and trust and other things if I ever saw one.

Said plain and simple, the Aussie was a complete asshole.

Arrogant to the extreme, self-centered, narcisistic, with signs of controlling, obssessive and abusive personality..., the man was trouble (and ego) on legs. Hated Rabb's guts, the feeling being reciprocated by not only Rabb but by the whole office, and tried everything to best Rabb.

He had never managed it in professional life so he decided to do it in personal life. When Rabb wasn't there to protect his friendship with the woman Bugme moved in. Pretty cowardly, if you ask me. Not an action of a real man. Real men go face to face, fight it out, with fists in a fair fight, only low lives scheme and plan and plot. She was also to blame, because she so eagerly let him close, she knew how much Rabb hated him, which I think was part of the reason why she did it.

By that time I'd heard that the Major, or should I say LtCol (who did promot her when she was found guilty of perjury just months before that? From working in a legal office I know that such a conviction can destroy a career at best, gets you a few years in Leavenworth at worst. Yet, her career not only did not take a single hit, it even flourished. And that even with the Admiral's Mast she was subjected to. Where the hell is the military going if they are rewarding their officers for breaking not only legal laws, but also their oaths and the laws of morality? An officer of the court was discovered and rewarded for lying while under oath... She should've been disbarred, demoted and sent to Leavenworth if there was justice, yet she wasn't, she was actually given a reward in the form of a promotion. Any other person, much less an officer and a lawyer, would've been imprisoned for what she did. Another piece of evidence with which Cheggwidden could be convicted for favoritism.) was supposed to have been in love with Rabb.

(AN: my sister is a lawyer herself and when she saw that Mac - as a lawyer and an officer - committed perjury and the fact that she wasn't punished for it - imprisoned and disbarred, she was horrified by the inaccuracies and bias in the show, leaning obviously in favor of Mac. Any lawyer who would be discovered lying under oath would be IMMEDIATELY disbarred and then imprisoned. I guess JAG ignored the laws of reality and real life once again, especially where Mac is concerned...)

Well, that would explain her tears when he left, but not her quick cozying up to Bugme, as he was now called by the whole office behind his back. No-one liked him, everyone hated him. If she loved Rabb then she betrayed her love and him.

No matter what the protocol says; our leader, CO and the man we all looked up to wasn't Cheggwidden, it was Rabb. He had earned our respect and our affections.

And when someone hurts him or wants him ill, we will stand not stand for it.

It seems that Bugme decided to make a move on the LtCol. Actually, it was more like to continue sexually harrassing her, like he did before Rabb had left.

That's another thing I'd lost respect for her as a woman and an officer. Not only for what she did and how she'd behaved after Rabb returned, the fact that she lied under oath, cheated on her husband at least twice and had an affair with her CO (the looks she'd occasionally sent Cheggwidden now made sense), lied by omission about her marital status - had never told anyone about being married and many other things, but she also ignored and thereby condoned and encouraged sexual harrassment from a fellow officer...

Every woman in the military should call her on it for her foolish behaviour. By doing nothing, she had let a harrasser run free, free to harrass other women. She had failed as an officer of the court and as a woman to protect every other woman who could've become a victim of the out-of-control Aussie in the future.

Every woman has the moral duty to protect other women from harrassment, for example by reporting the harrasser to proper authorities.

Yet, she didn't do it.

And that's where she utterly and completely failed as an officer, a lawyer and foremost as a woman.

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	6. Chapter 6

**HarmAndMac4ever**: Thank you for your review!

When I post my fics I know that not everyone will like what I write and I thank you for the review that was polite, even though you strongly disagree with what I wrote. There are many out there who would not review so gracefully and they would resort to flaming. I appreciate your civilized approach.

In the following paragraphs I will explain why I wrote what I wrote, and they are completely my personal opinions and I do not, in any way, try to force them on others, I just want to explain why I think/write this way. Thank you!

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About H&M being soulmates and about other people liking Meg: this is unfortunately the point where many people have differences of opinion. I personally don't believe that H&M are soulmates, but I let anyone believe it if they do. My personal reasons for disbelieving in it are many, among them the fact that if they were soulmates they wouldn't have been starting from scratch so many times, like after Bugme and Renee and after Paraguay. IMHO soulmates would never let it get that far, nor would they fight, argue, resent and destroy their friendship so many times and with such intensity as these two did. They also are in my opinion much too different in personalities to be soulmates, starting with their beliefs, eating habits, views on fidelity, being members and supporters of two branches of the military that strongly dislike each other,...

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Some like Mac, some like Meg, some like both and some like none. It's a completely subjective thing.

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I know I seem a little harsh on Mac, but the thing is that every single mark on her record would destroy a service(-wo-)man's career by itself in real life. Yet, we have seen her career never take a hit, on the contrary, it flourished every time she did something that would've sent her to prison in real life and have her demoted and disbarred. She cheated on her husband, multiple times, that alone would destroy her career in RL (yet she didn't have a problem prosecuting people for the same crime and push for maximum punishment, pretty hypocritical). She was also found guilty of fraternization at the same time, which alone destroys her career, combined with adultery it brings being stripped of rank and serving time in Leavenworth. Yet, instead of being punished, which she deserved since she fully consciously broke the laws, she was rewarded, with a promotion and had her studies at Law School paid by the Corps...

When she lied under oath (with which she would earn disbarrment and prison time even if she was a civilian lawyer, much less a military lawyer and an officer) she was subjected to an Admiral's Mast - in real life she would never get that much lenience - (which was so light and biased that it just proved favoritism on the side of Cheggwidden) and just a few months later she was promoted AHEAD OF TIME!, with perjury conviction and Admiral's Mast just months before.

Yet Harm, who had more time in service and in rank, was more decorated, had a cleaner record (he only shot up a courtroom's ceiling and that was placed into his short-time record and not into permanent because he paid for the repair out of his own pocket; he also did not have any of the high-caliber convictions and black marks that Mac did), had been the Chief of Staff for 3 years, from "We the people" to December 2004 Harm had won 18!! cases against Mac while Mac had clearly won only 2!! against him (statistics of trials taken from a Mac fan site!) and such clear superiority in skills and wins also have a big effect on promotions and this fact was obviously ignored on the show due to favoritism of Mac, ... and he was promoted 6 months after her!

As for what she did with Bugme, I stand by what I wrote. What LCDR Brumby did was textbook sexual harrassment and plain harrassment. These are the two crimes that the military takes very seriously now, because of the Tailhook scandal, and Mac's not-reporting and encouraging his behaviour would also earn her a reprimand. There is a law by which someone who was witness to a crime and did nothing to stop it or didn't report the criminal, can have charges brought up against him. Harm wanted to act, but she stopped him.

What Mac did with her behaviour was encouraging and condoning a criminal behaviour and I find it appalling that a woman, who had so passionately explained the situation of women and dangers of rape and other dangers to women in the modern times to the Admiral, could condone and encourage sexual harrasment, which sometimes turns into rape itself. Not only was she obligated by law to report it as an officer of the court, she was also obligated morally and as a woman in order to help remove one to-women-dangerous man off the streets. Yet, not only did she not do as duty demanded of her, she also encouraged that behaviour. For that alone she should've been punished as the law dictates.

Lastly... it is my personal opinion that Mac had stopped being a true friend to Harm when he changed designators, when she started resenting and hating him for that decision. Their friendship was never the same again, mostly because Mac was unwilling to get over it. When he came back she was cold and hostile towards him, something he did not deserve. Not only did she show him that he was no longer her friend, nor did he count among the people important to her, when she never told him of her promotion, but she also constantly pulled her new (undeserved) rank on him and treated him like shit once he returned to JAG. We've seen her treat rapists and murderes better than she treated Harm.

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JAG has failed to treat many heavy issues properly during the years of the show and I blame TPTB for it. Issues, such as sexual harrassment (Krennick, Bugme, Vukovic,...), favoritism, H&M's 'relationship' which had successfully disrupted good order and discipline of the office many times would not be tolerated in the military and both parties would've been transferred to the different poles of the Earth,... I find it curious that a man, who had been repeating over the years millions of times that he is a former Marine, would do such stupid, obvious, basic mistakes on his show, mistakes that were so transparent that many people had caught them. I mean, Gunny was telling details of a top secret mission over a pay phone!, over an unsecured line in Paraguay, which is the first thing they teach you in basic not to do.

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**Kaydeek**: tnx for the review!

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**Syrae: **I don't know what were the reasons, but IMHO they are not good enough for such blatant disregard of basic laws, not only legal, but also of logic, real world, of combat,... For a show that called itself 'military drama' it showed remarkable ignorance of basic laws and ways of everyday life in the military and of standard operating procedures.

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Eventually Rabb returned and the office seemed to have regained a part of the peace that it'd lost when he changed his designator.

It had lost a lot of the balance when Austin was transferred out, but when Rabb left also, it had lost all order and balance.

The few that were left weren't able to do anything, most of them weren't even interested, they just cared about their own asses.

Only LT's Roberts and Sims-Roberts cared about what had happend to the office, but neither had the rank, charisma, presence nor a personality that could match Rabb's and that could steady the office.

Cheggwidden was constantly closed up in his office, rarely coming out, never connecting with his subordinates, having completely lost all contact with the staff.

Mackenzie and Bugme were together most of the time and didn't care about anything but themselves, each other and their cases.

Rabb's former partner (she was now partnered with Bugme) was definitely cool and had a superior attitude towards Rabb. In fact, I had seen her treat convicted rapists and murderes better than she treated the man who had been nothing but a best friend to her.

The man who had been vegetating for these past few years had lost another thing important to him, another friendship.

I had never seen anyone with such a bad luck in relationships as him.

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A few weeks after he was finally, rightfully promoted, even though he should've been months earlier, Rabb came into work with a bounce in his step.

For the first time since 'Before' all had work stopped in the bullpen that day.

The whole staff dropped everything and just stood there, staring at him.

You could've heard a pin drop. He stopped, noticing the silence, and glanced around.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and motioned for us to get back to work.

General consensus was that it was nothing big because, with the way his life had been going recently, even a row of green lights on his way to work could've made him that happy.

It was a plausible explanation.

So, why didn't it feel right?

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Because the answer was given a couple of hours later when I'd heard him talking on the phone, agreeing to meet a 'her' in a parking lot.

I was confused, who could've made him that happy?

Whoever she was, I hoped she wouldn't break his heart like all the others did. This man had his heart broken more times than it's allowed.

I talked to other members of the staff that had been there since before Cheggwidden's time. There were only very few of us left, but we stuck together like glue.

Our joint decision was to take a chance and stakeout the HQ's parking lot immediately after work.

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We were there, pretending to be minding our own businesses, when we saw Rabb leave the building.

At the same time his SUV entered through the entrance checkpoint.

What was his SUV doing on the road without him?

The car stopped at the curb and the engine shut off.

The few seconds it took for the door to open and the driver to step out were the longest for any of us. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting to discover the identity of the mysterious woman, for the beautifully shaped calves, that were seen under the door when it opened, definitely belonged to a woman, a very fit woman.

Finally, there she was...

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AN: the next part is the last one and everything will be revealed. Thanks for sticking with the story, despite the bashing of Mac and Bugme (believe it or not, I don't like to write bashing, it leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth), but with the way Season 5 went and due to Mac's behaviour, I couldn't be sticking to canon and not touch that unpleasant topic.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: cause you were all so nice and reviewed in such numbers, I've decided to post this one sooner.

I'm sorry for this being such a short fic, but could not find a way to drag on what was already a longer than planned fic. Besides, I've got too many WIPs in the dry docks to create another long WIP to spend time on.

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Tall, blonde and even more stunning than before.

Meg Austin.

We looked on in disbelief as the Queen of JAG greeted her King with a passionate kiss.

Where did she come from? Where was she all these years? How come we didn't know about her return?

As soon as we could think and breath again, we started to cheer.

Loudly.

Extremely loudly.

The two soulmates, we can call them that because it was clear that they are that, didn't hear us and continued kissing.

We were ecstatic to finally see our beloved Commander finally happy again and, best of all, finally together with his soulmate, after so many years of pain, longing and heartache.

He swung her around in the air and when we saw something on her left ring finger flash brightly in the sun, then our cheering escalated even further, being joined by wolf whistles and cat-calls.

Everyone that knew them both from when they were still partners was in the parking lot, clapping, cheering.

That was A LOT of people. From guards, bullpen staff, LT Bud Roberts, judges, heads of various departments, support staff,... every single person that had known them both had found out about the reunion and had rushed out to see for themselves.

Finally they noticed they weren't alone.

They'd stopped kissing and looked around dumbfounded.

When the situation caught up to them Austin blushed deeply and buried her face into Rabb's shoulder. Rabb stood there, holding his soulmate in his arms and grinning sheepishly.

Suddenly there was utter silence.

Everyone turned towards the building's entrance.

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There stood the JAG himself, with a stern expression on his face.

Rabb and Austin, or should I say Rabb and future-Rabb, froze in their spot.

Suddenly Cheggwidden's face cleared and a large smile broke out on his face. He started clapping with a very pleased expression on his face, obviously approving.

Seemed like the old coot was a romantic after all...

Then we all converged on the two of them, slapping Rabb on his back, shaking their hands, the women demanding to see the ring... It was one big circus.

The guards, that should've dispersed the crowd, were happily participating, as was their leader who was a friend of Rabb's.

When we finally let them leave for home they were clearly overwhelmed with how many people had wished all these years that they would get together and how many people hurt for Rabb after Meg had left. A lot of bets were settled that day and huge amounts of money were finally paid off and exchanged hands.

I glanced back to see if Cheggwidden was still there. He still stood there, with Mackenzie and Bugme behind him, both bright red with jealousy.

Why was Bugme jealous? That's an easy answer. While the LtCol may have been good looking, she was nowhere near the utter, stunning, knockout that Austin is. The second reason was that Rabb had won in the end, without even competing or knowing of a competition that was only in the dumb Aussie's head. Rabb had finally been reunited with his soulmate, was clearly in love, she in love with him and they were getting married... That was enough to make the jerk jealous.

Why was Mackenzie jealous? Because of what Rabb and Austin clearly had together and that Rabb had found happiness even though she had tried to make him jealous with Bugme, tried to force him to 'fight' for her (I really dislike women who want men to fight each other for them, too many men had died because of witches like that in the past) and he had found happiness with someone else. Someone who had been there years before Mackenzie had even known of Harmon Rabb; someone who truly knew, valued and appreciate him, something which she had never done correctly, someone who held his heart in her palm, and took good care of it, except for the forced transfer, right from the start. And the love these two people shared would make anyone jealous, so it was no wonder that it made Mackenzie jealous.

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So, here I am now, attending the wedding reception of Harmon and Meg Rabb. Two Commanders, one with a full and one with half a stripe.

They've just finished telling us how they have finally found each other. Apparently Meg was transferred back the day before the scene in the parking lot.

Immediately after arriving in DC she had searched out Harm, still loving him.

She'd found him and the rest sounds like a completely sappy, mushy love tale. He opened the door, saw her, they fell into each other's arms, professing love and Rabb had proposed to her right then and there, knowing that he could never let her go again. That he'd die if he lost her again. She felt the same way and accepted.

And just a few hours ago they have gotten married in the Naval Academy chapel.

And me? I'm sitting here, after so many years, back in my officer's uniform, and filling my heart with the love and happiness of these two people who were clearly meant to be. What I didn't know was that Harm had been fighting for a few years now to have my case re-opened and new evidence to be examined. He didn't tell me until it was the right time to testify because he didn't want me to be disappointed had his appeal been denied. He represented me in court and won. I was cleared of all charges, my record was scrubbed clean of the black marks and my rank was re-instated, along with my retroactive promotions and pay. I am now a Commander, as I should've been had I not been sacrificed (the guilty ones were identified and are awaiting trial), and all of the pay I should've been getting these past few years way given to me. It is great not having to watch every single penny, but I won't be careless with money ever again. What is even more important, I won't ever look at the people, that make the military function, the same way ever again, after having been one of them.

In an attempt at matchmaking Meg had decided to persuade me into a blind date with a friend of hers. Maybe I should try it, maybe the friend is my soulmate...

You know what I've also realized, something that should've been glaringly obvious to me?

The day of the scene in the parking lot, Harm had not had even a drop of coffee all day... Yet he was wide awake even while the others were like zombies and he had a bounce in his step.

Something more obvious is that ever since he and Meg had finally found each other, he hadn't tasted even a drop of coffee, while always being in an excellent mood, awake, alert and happy with his life. The missing piece of his soul had been returned to him and he didn't need that unhealthy drink anymore.

And I knew, I knew it in my bones, that he won't need another drop of coffee for the rest of his life.

THE END


End file.
